GOVT TO CONSIDER BUS WI-FI INSTALLATION AND LAYING OF COMMON FIBER NETWORK ACROSS DELHI; WILL STUDY VARIOUS REVENUE MODELS AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS

27.4.2015

The IT Department of Delhi Government in association with the Delhi Dialogue Commission Wi-Fi Task Force concluded a three-day Consultation with various system integrators, Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), hardware and software providers as well as ISPs and Telecom operators.

Adarsh Shastri who moderated the technical discussions over the three days laid a clear vision of what the government expected from installing public WiFi across Delhi. He said “WiFi will be the first phase of making Delhi a digital city and will bridge the digital divide by creating an information superhighway, which will consist of CCTV, geotagging, m-governance, e-governance and other citizen services being built on top of WiFi as a service.”

Other issues that were broached related to security, privacy, service whitelisting, international case studies and best practices that the government of Delhi can adopt. At the end of this three day consultation and over 40 one-to-one discussions at the Delhi Dialogue Commission WiFi task force, the expert panel came up with preliminary expert recommendations which will be followed by a detailed scoping paper by June-end.

The IT department of Delhi government envisions the rollout of 1,000 WiFi hotspots around the time of completion of first year of AAP Delhi government early next year with further scaling of coverage every year. As a next step, the AAP Delhi government will ensure mesh coverage across the city.

Further, the AAP government will consider installing WiFi in 5000 DTC buses and also laying a common fiber infrastructure network across the city. Technical and feasibility study on these issues is being conducted by the WiFi Task Force at the Delhi Dialogue Commission and the IT Ministry of Delhi government.

State government wants to give its every citizen the right to internet and wifi. Universal access to Internet is a transformative idea that can empower citizens and provide them a level playing field, irrespective of economic status, educational qualifications, gender, race or religion. Delhi has an unique opportunity to change that by becoming the first city in India to have Universal Internet Access over high speed WiFi, so that all citizens of Delhi, especially those who are socially or economically disadvantaged can get access to knowledge, information, services and finally an opportunity for socio-economic upliftment. This will spur industrial growth, increase entrepreneurial activities, bring the governance online and on the mobile phone and make Delhi, India’s first digital city.